Thai Set Lunch 2015 @ Zest Bar Cafe, Glow Hotel, Georgetown, Penang!

Here we are again for Glow Hotel Penang’s Zest Bar Cafe review of its new Thai set lunch menu and ala carte menu. Last year, we blogged about its Father’s Day promotion. You can check our blogpost here. The management has revamped the artwork on the walls of its hotel and Zest Bar Cafe. The cafe looked very funky and young with it latest design.

This long table reminds me of ‘The Last Supper’. Haha 🙂

Let’s start our review of the Thai set lunch menu which can also be ordered as ala-carte.

Miang Kam RM8+

This appetiser is like the Thai version of our own Malaysian favourite ulam-ulam except it is more about spices such as dried shrimps, peanuts, gingers, chilli, red onions and coconut. You wrap all the ingredients or according to what suits you and dip the whole wrapped leaves into the sweet and salty sauce. The outcome of this dish is rather too spicy for us to our liking. 🙂

Soups

Tom Yam Goong RM18+

When we talk about Thai food, the first thing that comes into our minds is the spicy and fiery red tom yam soup. The presentation of this Tom Yam Goong is very attractive with its big prawns! 🙂 What’s our verdict? The soup is too overpowered by the prawns and it makes us feel that we are drinking Penang’s Hokkien Mee soup. 😛 We prefer a more sourish, spicier and a little bit sweeter tom yam soup.

Tom Kha Gai RM12+

This is the so-called white version of tom yam soup. 😛 Tom Kha Gai or better know as Siam Chicken Soup is a creamy soup. It is cooked using galangal, coconut cream and local spices. The soup is less spicier than its sibling, Tom Yam Goong and creamier of course. We can’t really consume a lot of its soup as it will make us feel satiated (or what the local will say ‘jelak‘). The ingredients are given generously.

Appetizers

Som Tam RM10+

This a favourite dish among Thai food lovers. Using young papaya together with dried shrimps and spices, it gives a very nice, crunchy and good tasting experience (口感). It is a decent dish.

Yam Moon Sen RM12+

If you are bored with Som Tam as your appetiser, you can try this light and refreshing Yam Moon Sen that comes with glass noodles, prawns, lime leaves and ginger flowers. The prawns are big and fresh whereas the lime leaves give the dish a refreshing taste.

Gaeng Keow Wan RM18+

Gaeng Keow Wan or Green Curry as what we local call it is very spicy. Many bloggers also feel the same way. We feel that usually green curry is creamier and definitely less spicier than red curry. This is the opposite. For spicy-lovers, this is a must-order dish! 🙂 You can choose between chicken and prawn for this dish. We had chicken that day and it was good but just too spicy! 🙂

Kaeng Phet RM18+

Kaeng Phet means Red Curry and you can choose to have chicken or prawn for this dish. This dish is also rather spicy. The prawns are fresh and has the seafood sweetness. It goes very well with the white rice! 🙂 If you are a spicy lover, please go ahead. If you are not, then don’t go for this dish ya.

Gaeng Massaman RM18+

This is our first time tasting a roasted peanut curry sauce. A must try if you are there! 🙂 You can choose beef or chicken. We had chicken that day. You can’t have enough of its sauce.

Pad Kra Prao RM18+

This is our favourite dish! Pad means Stir-Fried and Kra Prao is holy basil. So in whole, it means stir-fried with holy basil. The sautéed chicken is very flavourful and has a hint of spiciness that invites you to return for more. We can’t stop eating this well-marinated minced chicken! You can opt for beef if you want! Very recommended dish! 😉

Pad Thai RM15+

This dish seems like the Thai version of our char koay teow. 🙂 The differences are they let you mix with peanuts and the egg wraps the whole noodles Pattaya-style. The overall taste is very good and the spiciness will attract you to eat more and more. At first, you will feel a little of spiciness and as you keep on eating it, be prepared to drink more water. Haha. This is the type of food whereby the spiciness will build up over the time. After Kaya stops for a while, Kaya still feels the spiciness. Haha! A must try also if you want to avoid rice! 🙂

Desserts

Khanom Khao Mao RM7+

This is a rather unique dessert whereby the ripe banana is wrapped with roasted sticky rice and grated coconut and then deep fried to make it crispy on the outer side. Dip the fried banana into the coconut milk for the extra flavour and kick! 🙂 A very well-done dessert!

Sang Kaya Fug Tong RM7+

This is our first time trying out this Thai dessert. It is steamed sweet pumpkin with custard and comes with coconut milk and sweet sesame syrup. Kaya prefers to have it with the sweet sesame syrup. It makes it sweeter and tastes better! 🙂

Here is the menu for Zest Bar.

Overall, Zest Bar Cafe by Glow Hotel Penang offers some very good main courses, exceptional desserts and some of their dishes might need further improvement especially the Tom Yam Goong to attract the hardcore Thai food lovers! So, if you near town are and looking for a great Thai food and great ambience with reasonable price, do pay Glow Hotel Penang’s Zest Bar Cafe a visit! 🙂 Oh ya, do take note that they have very limited parking spaces in front of their hotel. You can ask the hotel staffs to help you with the parking if you can’t find one. 🙂

contact information

Zest Bar Cafe,
Glow Hotel Penang,
101, Macalister Road,
10400 Georgetown, Penang.
Tel No: +604-226 0084
Website: www.zinchospitality.com/glowbyzinc/penang/Overview
Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/glowpenang
GPS: 5.416638, 100.322952

business hours

Daily

11:30am – 5:00pm